Monday, February 21, 2011

Mor(t)al Dilemmas

I find myself at a loss. I’ve run with a small band of folks like myself for a few weeks now. We’ve been in a few tough scrapes. Lord knows I wouldn’t haven’t gotten far without them. I placed them in high regard. But yesterday…

The young lady in Kane Taoka’s group had some sort of power over me. She was able to make me point my own gun at my head. The other time I met her, she gave me a leg cramp or something.

During the battle, Laurel was able to entrance her by staring into her eyes. She laid on the floor, unable to move, unable to act, as long as Laurel gazed into her eyes.

Then Laurel shot her in the head. Cold-blooded murder.

My breath caught short at this. A fury rose within me. With the Viking skeletons beginning to overtake Kane, I ran over and dragged Laurel out of the room while she searched the dead girl’s body. I handcuffed her and shoved her into my police car. I may be the child of a god, but I’m a cop first.

Laurel sat in one of my chairs as we all argued over the shooting. I can appreciate the fact that she shot her to protect me. Dammit, we don’t even know the girl’s name. We don’t know a thing about her. Could she have had me pull the trigger on myself? It's possible. But nothing I've seen told me she was a killer.

Worst offense is that creepy doll of me she had.

I wasn't convinced that she could have used her hoodoo with her hands cuffed behind her back. Or that a bullet to the head was the best way to subdue her. The others tried to convince me that the shooting was justifiable. I'm not sure how executions are justified. This may be a war, but I'm not going to burn down a village to save it.

At the summit, I spoke to my father and asked him about scions killing scions. Is it the rule? Should we avoid it if we can? He said it wasn't unheard of, but there are repercussions. The parent god will want vengeance.

Maybe if we run into Sly or Victor again they can tell us who she was.

Just after the gods gave us a new assignment, I pulled Laurel aside to have a chat with her. "I know you did that to protect me. I understand, and I'm grateful for that. But there are other ways. Killing should never be your first option. And now you've opened yourself up to payback because of something you've done on my behalf." I placed my hand on her shoulder and said "Whenever this thing comes for you, I will do my best to stop it. But please, no more killing. Not when there's another way."